ASU was just two points away from an upset.
The Sun Devil volleyball team pushed the 10th-best team in the country to five games this weekend.
ASU traveled to Seattle to take on the Washington Huskies. The Sun Devils knew going in that they would have to be near-perfect to hang with the Huskies.
Coach Jason Watson said it was his team’s best overall performance this year.
“I thought our team was beautifully prepared and composed,” Watson said. “Probably one of the finest matches we played this year.”
It was a classic flip-flop match. First UW took a set, and then ASU battled back and took the second. It came down to the last set. The first team to reach 15 would take the match.
The fifth set was a battle right to the end. The score was tied nine times and there were four lead changes. It could have gone either way.
It came down the last two points. ASU battled hard but UW prevailed 15-13 after two attack errors by ASU redshirt freshman Kylee Terhune.
ASU also relied on junior middle blocker Erica Wilson for offensive support in the last match. She had three kills to help the Sun Devils try and take the match.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Ashley Kastl stepped up for the Sun Devils with 17 kills in the match.
Watson said both players competed well in both matches.
“Both Ashley Kastl and Erica Wilson put two back to back performances together on the road, that was really kind of nice.” Watson said.
Senior middle blocker Sonja Markanovich had an impressive offensive game with nine kills. It was a nice match for Markanovich because her family made the trip from Canada to see her play.
Watson said that they do not get to see her play a lot of the time so it was good to see her play well in front of her family.
This was the third time this year the Sun Devils have pushed a team to five games and lost in the last set.
WSU beats ASU
ASU did not take the momentum of their match against UW into their match against Washington State.
Watson said that the Sun Devils played patient and composed against UW. They were ready for a long contest. But against WSU that was not the case.
“I don’t think we were as prepared for the grind,” Watson said. “I think our youth kind of got the better of us tonight.”
The Cougars beat the Sun Devils in three straight sets to take the match.
WSU connected on most of their shots, hitting over .300 on the night. ASU did not hit well as a team and only Wilson and Kastl hit over .300.
Watson said the team did not defend as well against WSU.
“We weren’t quite as disciplined,” Watson said. “Those little subtle details is the difference between putting yourself in a chance to win and \not putting yourself in a chance to win.”
ASU comes back home next weekend to take on the Oregon schools. With only eight more Pac-12 games, the Sun Devils are running out of chances to obtain conference victories.
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu
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